Killian Archeas
Killian is the main character of the series who is blind and oft-mute, remembers nothing about his past whatsoever. His siblings, by creation, are Killan Red the Blood Wraith and Psalterine the Soul Wraith. 'Appearance:' Lian wears his hair very long, and is often seen to be wearing oriental clothing, typical of which are robes of the same shade as his hair with rich gold trimming--either with or without sleeves. He is likewise often seen carrying an object wrapped in bandage strips and excessive rosary called the Curious Container, later revealed to be a glass cylinder which held one of Arsenine’s eyes in preserving fluid. It was given him by Killan Red, and is sealed via Ish-sha-ah with the rosaries and bandages. It is the only means to contact the Blood Wraith directly. Lian also wears a small red bottle necklace called a Prayer Bottle around his neck. This is given to him by Psalterine which, on the other hand, is the only means to contact her. The bottle is a permanent container to Theodia’s soul, and returns to it once the lid is closed. In the later books of the series, Killian cuts his hair short and dyes it pitch black after leaving the Community in order to look for his wraiths unnoticed. He assumes a rebellious teenager’s personality, and gets into various encounters with Death Gamers including the Revs. 'History:' 'Plot:' 'Powers and Abilities: ' As the Lian Painter: 'Creation' A very rare, not to mention, forbidden Sah skill that’s said to only be unique to the Archeas Clan, enabling them to ‘create’ something out of nothing or anything likewise give that said creation life. During the Years of Despair (according to Killan Red’s confession to Psalterine), after the couple Theodia’s and Arsenine’s murder and the Clan’s massacre, a young, injured Killian (blinded by some explosion), used this ability to create them: from Blood and Hate, Killan Red and from the Shadow and Ashes, Psalterine. When Lian lost his memories and became part of the Community, he uses this skill to give life to his paintings, allowing them to move. This he is unaware of however, due to being unable to point out the origins of the skill. 'Speed Painting' This refers to Killian using his Sah to increase the speed by which he creates his ‘living’ paintings. As he explains to Ken leShaw, Sah allows him to cut his time to a mere 0.05 of a second to cover a foot’s worth of area in canvas, at the same time, allowing his Sah to trickle into the paint, thus giving them life in the process. Lians (what they refer as Killian’s paintings) are priced highly for their memory-preserving properties, allowing buyers to ‘bring to life’ any moment they wish to resurrect in the canvas, via the Blind Artist’s help, as recalled by that person. But it can be deadly, as Killian tells Ken, stating that many people have pined away over their memories once it becomes a Lian. Like how a client who’d asked him to bring a memory of his dead wife back to life, ended up dying a lunatic after getting obsessed with the belief that she would come back through the moving Lian. Besides memories, Killian also creates other types of paintings with various subjects, mostly imagined as he himself admits to not having much memory to work with. This is shown in the Butterflies and Tombstones Lian he gives Coal as a parting gift, and the Falling Stars Lian he gives Ken as thanks for healing him when he fell ill. 'Fore-Painting' Another variation of Killian’s skills as the Lian Painter; this Sah skill allows Killian to create a living painting, called a Blank Canvas or BC, that is able to tell the past, present and future as response to one question presented to it. The Blank Canvas is functional for a year, but fades and becomes a useless mess right after. It will show the answers and all related answers to the question (the what, how, when and where of it) that will happen in a span of 12 months after the question is made. Everything can likewise be replayed on the canvas, allowing the asker to manipulate to the scenes he/she wants to see by touch. BC’s are even more expensive than normal Lians, and can cost anywhere from 300 Million to 1 Billion Golzens depending on the outcome of the auction. Only a few pieces are done at a time, and Killian is forbidden to create them at any time before or after Trade Off season even if a buyer requests for it (which happens often). Unpainted canvases are often mistaken for Blank Canvases due to their similarities. Indeed, a BC looks just like an unpainted canvas save for the Lian Painter’s "Permission" on the right hand corner of it. Said Permission is actually Killian's seal, a blood thumb print, that activates the BC’s capability to tell the truth and nothing but the absolute of that. BC’s normally start out red, then blank, and then only show the scenes when asked the question. Some collectors opt not to use their bought Blank Canvases at all, allowing their value to increase as many believe the longer it stays unused, the longer the duration of the answers. Killian denies this however, saying it's false as BC’s only function for a year and no more than that. The Activating Chant 'Consequence of the Blank Canvas' There are two, as far as Killian has told Nicaline and his Wraiths: 1.) A consequence he has told the Community about is that the BC can answer ANY question except “how life/existence began” and “how life/existence will end”; and 2.) A secret consequence only Nicaline and his Wraiths know, is that the BC cannot be used to find anything about him and his twins - their past, present or future. Thus he cannot use the BC to locate the other two, and whenever scenes where they are come up, the portrait fades to blank. 'Fact: ' 1.) The triplets' powers actually cancel out each other, which is why the Wraiths faced a great difficulty finding Lian the first time he disappeared, and why Killian found it impossible to reunite with his Wratiths. 2.) Although Creation can be achieved by simple drawing or painting at regular pace, using Speed Painting helps Lian finish faster than usual and makes it more effective. It’s also exhausting enough that Killian falls sick almost immediately after he “speed paints”, but only because he hides his true capacity. It’s even worse after he fore-paints, so the Community limits this to a minimal during Trade Off. 3.) Regular Speed Painting uses a thick shade of black made from all colors mixed together, while Fore-Painting uses a special red paint (in what’s called a Red Bottle) that’s mysteriously supplied to Killian from somewhere the Community has no idea during Trade Off. The Blind Artist actually knows for a fact this is from Killan Red, and that it is a specially consecrated mixture of red paint and blood. 'Precis Gossamer' Killian’s counterpart skill to Killan Red’s Dark Barbs and Psalter’s Ghost Blades. The Precis Gossamer has the same ability to cancel out Sah once it wraps around or hits the target, and can reach an area of some 300-400 meters on all directions. The strands of the Precis are actually strings of rosaries, with tribal-like beads that, although fragile-looking, are stronger than any type of metal in the world, thanks to the powerful Sah that strengthens it. Precis Gossamer can likewise be summoned in profusion, and Lian has successfully used them as traps, very much like a spider’s web, in catching enemies and nullifying their own powers during fights. Killian is also seen burying them in places and imbuing them with a special type of cloak to hide their presence until the right time comes. Killian used this to capture the Revs that were pursuing him, cancelling their Sah in the process. Fact: ' By the end of the first part of the series, Killian reveals his Precis Gossamer to Nicaline before his disappearance, and uses it to render her unconscious so that he cannot harm her during his escape. Before fainting, Nical notices how the strands bear similarity to the rosaries wrapping around the Curious Container, realising later that they are indeed the same, and that he has managed to hide this skill from the Community all this time. 'Fake Painting A Sah skill Killian later discovers after regaining all his memories. Fake Painting combines Creation, Precis Gossamer and Speed Painting to create a precise illusion that replaces someone or something. Killian uses this to trick everyone into thinking that the last of the Archeas are already dead by putting portraits to replace their corpses during their burial, that way, he and his siblings can finally live in peace. Personality and Complexity: Killian is blind and thought to be mute at first, only later revealed to be talking less due to his shyness and the secret distaste he has grown towards the members of the Community over the years. He is also quite good-natured, showing courtesy towards other people even if he doesn’t get to meet so many due to his sheltered lifestyle. He is shown to have a sense of humor, at times, but only with the few ‘friends’ he has. Lian is often lonely and withdrawn in the Community, mistakenly viewed as weak by those around him, even his twins, and gets overly protected. He has a tendency to fall ill quite easily; first thought as probably due to the Community secluding him almost all of his life with them, however, is actually a result of him restricting his Sah to conceal it from others. Killian wants people to think that he is useless besides his painting skills, because he has thought to use this to his advantage from the beginning. Lian is unhappy of his situation, of being trapped by his benefactors, and is heavily aware of the fact that the Community is exploiting his skills for gain. This he keeps to himself though due to necessity, staying in Nun only because of his siblings. Thus he is uncertain during the first parts of the series--only reaching the decision to leave his benefactors later before things turned for the worst. Afterwhich Killian is revealed to be a devil in sheep’s clothing, showing his quiet cunning as he manipulates the fortunes of those around him to allow his escape from the Community. 'Relationships:' 'The Wraiths' Family is the most important to Lian, often acting as the common ground to stop his siblings from bickering, and feeling utterly terrible when he lies to them in his escape. His gentleness in turn is greatly loved by them, so much that Killan Red disobeyed Lian to protect him and Psallterine continues to set aside her own feelings to take care of him. 'Coal Grave-Averne' Of all the characters in the series, Coal is the next person Killian holds the most affection for, openly admitting in later chapters that he is deeply in love with the man enough that in the last parts of the series he stops Killan Red from killing him. Coal in turn responds similarly to this affection; his feelings allowing him to ignore his naturally murderous and apathetic nature. There’s even a chapter in the series where he awkwardly asks Lian out on a date and officially starts to court him despite the protest of his death gaming society. 'Nicaline and Oro' Being official members of the Community, Nical and Oro often work with Killian, although Oro is not so often seen around him. It is shown that Lian cares for the two as they do for him, treating them as his closest friends in the Community. Nicaline especially, besides being his official caretaker and guardian, has also become Lian’s confidant and adviser; the only soul in the society to know of the existence of the wraiths, the secret of his skills and his unhappiness. 'Rethuro' The head of Killian’s guard force and keepers, and liaison to the Heads of the Community, Killian admittedly sees Rethuro’s presence as a nuisance, although he treats him with as much civility, being the eyes and ears of his benefactors and the executioner of their commands. Rethuro thinks Lian bratty, and somehow feels there’s something the latter is hiding although he couldn’t quite lay a finger on it. Not until he dies by Lian’s doing, that is. 'Caelum' Killian likes this cursed wolf because of the fact that they are “similar animals, only in different cages”, and enjoys having him as a pet due to his loyalty and obedience. 'Armand' Killian considers Armand as a friend outside of the Community, and often sneaks out to meet him when he is in town, as known only to Psalterine. Armand had long admitted to having feelings towards Killian, even offering to "take Killian away" from his current situation - and continues to offer it in fact - however the other has declined. Despite being close, Killian has never told Armand of the reason why (his twins) he can't leave the Community. Armand has also kept from Killian the fact that he is a member, the Juris or Judge, of the Death Gaming Society of Revertere. Ken leShaw Ken is Killian’s other friend outside of the Community, and has become a confidant to the teen’s secrets when the Blind Artist first reveals to him his life as the Lian Painter, then the truth about his twins later after Killian leaves the Community. Killian stayed at Ken’s place for some time while incognito, and was the first person to see Lian’s transformation as Spider. Category:Characters